


The Real Housewives of Storybrooke

by WorryinglyInnocent



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, Ficlets, Multi, Outlaw Queen - Freeform, Real Housewives AU, Rumbelle - Freeform, Snowing - Freeform, ariel/eric (do they even have a ship name?), more tags and pairings will be added when they appear in the story, various scandals and shenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2019-06-27 08:02:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15681330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WorryinglyInnocent/pseuds/WorryinglyInnocent
Summary: Inspired by having watched way too much Real Housewives of Beverley Hills recently.A series of ficlets following the lives of four elite wives of Storybrooke and their friends and families (and enemies...) with all the scandal, bitching and backstabbing that goes on behind the scenes of high society…Told from the POVs of Belle, Regina, Ariel and Mary Margaret, it's mainly rumbelle and outlaw queen focussed, with cameo appearances from several other characters and pairings.





	1. Belle - Ariel - Belle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belle receives disappointing news and Ariel vows to protect her friend at a forthcoming garden party, after the last such occasion was rather dramatic.

**BELLE**

Sitting cross-legged on the bathroom floor, leaning back against the bath panel with her eyes closed, Belle crossed her fingers. She wondered if it would be over-kill to try and cross her toes as well.

The timer on her phone beeped and she squeezed her crossed fingers even tighter before finally grabbing the pregnancy test that was sitting on the floor beside her and turning it over.

Her heart sank when she saw the words in clear writing on the digital display: Not Pregnant. She had been so sure that this time was the one. Something had felt different, but no, it was just another month come and gone with no luck.

She dumped the test in the trash can and ran a hand through her hair. She had been so convinced that she wouldn’t have any trouble getting pregnant, and she knew that the problem had to lie somewhere within her own biology. There wasn’t exactly anything wrong with Cameron’s fertility; he already had a son.

Belle knew that it was too soon to consider IVF. They’d only been trying for six months and taking a year to conceive naturally was recommended before medical intervention, but she didn’t know if she could take another six months of negative pregnancy tests.

Still, there was no use sitting on the bathroom floor in her pyjamas feeling sorry for herself all day. Marian was looking after the library today, but that didn’t mean that Belle couldn’t pop in and say hello to her friend. Anything to take her mind off the fact that she still wasn’t pregnant despite desperately wanting to be.

She got up and padded through to the bedroom, impulsively grabbing a scatter cushion off the bed and shoving it up under her pyjama top. Not the same as the real thing, of course, but it would do for now. Belle allowed herself a couple of moments to indulge her fantasies, thinking about all the things she would put in the currently non-existent nursery.

She heard the sound of a key in the front door and hastily put the cushion back where it belonged. The sound of a clear soprano humming show tunes told her that it was Mrs Potts who had come in and was currently cleaning the kitchen.

Belle quickly got dressed and did her make-up, trying to make it look like she hadn’t been moping for most of the morning, finally making her way downstairs.

“Oh, Mrs Gold. I didn’t realise that you were in today or I would have come and said hello.”

Belle smiled. Even when she was down in the doldrums, Mrs Potts’ positive outlook on life and bustling, no-nonsense manner would always lift her spirits a little.

“I’m just on my way out, Mrs P,” Belle said. “I made muffins yesterday, please do take a few.”

Mrs Potts gave her a sympathetic look. “You only ever bake that amount when you’re worried, my dear.”

Belle sighed, sinking into a seat at the breakfast bar and grabbing a muffin out of the Tupperware on the side, picking it to pieces without any real intention of eating it. Mrs Potts left the oven cleaner and came over, taking Belle’s hands in hers.

“Still no luck?” she asked gently. Belle shook her head and Mrs Potts squeezed her hands.

“It’ll come,” she said, with such conviction that Belle almost believed her. “As soon as you stop trying and start enjoying being married instead of worrying about being a mother, it’ll happen.”

“I wish that were true, Mrs P,” Belle said sadly.

“Just try it,” Mrs Potts pressed. “You’ll be surprised.”

She went back to the oven, humming something dramatic sounding from Phantom of the Opera, and Belle thought about her words. Maybe it was time to summon the troops. A girls’ night was in order.

X

**ARIEL**

Ariel was upside down under a yacht engine when Belle’s message arrived inviting her for cocktails at Aesop’s Tables that night, and she jumped at the chance. She and Eric had been working on the  _Flounder_  for the best part of a week, and she really needed a break. It was all very well buying themselves a yacht as an anniversary present, and they’d certainly had great plans to spend a romantic time restoring it together before sailing down to the Caribbean for a second honeymoon, but now Ariel was thinking that it would be better to cut their losses and get the professionals in.

_YES_ , she replied to Belle’s message.  _I will absolutely be there if I can get the grease out from under my fingernails._

She wondered what was bothering Belle, who only ever initiated girls’ cocktail nights when she needed to distract herself from something. Ariel and Ruby were the ones to initiate social events. Belle liked staying at home with her man just as much as she enjoyed a good mojito.

Whatever it was, Ariel hoped that Belle would get it off her chest before everyone went to Regina’s garden party on Friday. Zelena would be there, and if she got the slightest sniff that Belle was unhappy about something, then there would be twenty-six different rumours all over Storybrooke before church on Sunday.

“Why is Zelena even in our circle of friends?” Ariel grumbled aloud, smacking the engine with a wrench and giving a squawk of alarm when it flew out of her hand and narrowly avoided hitting Eric in the head. He picked it up and handed it back to her with an amused expression.

“Because she’s Regina’s step-sister and as we all know, it’s best to keep your friends close and your enemies even closer.”

Ariel wrinkled her nose. “As long as she doesn’t turn up uninvited tonight.”

Eric kissed her cheek. “I’m sure that you’ll handle everything with your usual aplomb, my dear.”

“Hmm.” Ariel, not quite as convinced, returned her attention to the engine and set to work with the wrench with much more violence than before.

Belle was the newest addition to their little group; she had always been on the periphery as part of Ariel’s wider circle of friends, but it was only once she had married Cameron Gold that she had really got the same Alpha Wife status that the rest of them had. 

Ever since Belle’s official entry into the dog-eat-dog world of the social elite, Ariel had been doing her best to protect her from the others, namely Zelena. Regina did well to keep her sister in line most of the time, but Ariel remembered the last party they’d all been at together, at the benefit gala at the city hall. She shuddered at the thought of it.

Still, Zelena wouldn’t be there tonight and she would hopefully be on her best behaviour at the garden party because Regina’s mother was going to be there, and Cora Mills was not only a force to be reckoned with, but also an influential figure in the town on whose right side stepdaughter Zelena was desperate to remain.

Ariel sighed and just prayed to whichever deity was out there at the next few days would go without a hitch.

X

**BELLE**

“Carrie and Ursula have invited us over for brunch on Saturday. I thought that we could probably use a leisurely debrief after the garden party.”

Belle smiled at her husband in the mirror as she did her make-up ready to go out with the girls. ‘Leisurely debrief’ in this case meant ‘epic bitching session’, and Belle was certain that she’d be more than happy to go along and add her two cents to the mix. 

Quietly she was dreading the party; she remembered the scenes that had been made at the last occasion. That said, Cameron had promised to stay by her side all the time, and she knew that Ariel and Mary Margaret would back her up as well.

Cameron came over and kissed her. “You go and have fun tonight,” he said. “Let your hair down, and don’t worry about Friday. It’s all going to be fine.”

Belle sighed and leaned in against his shoulder.

“Still no luck,” she said eventually.

“It’ll come,” Cameron said. “Probably when you least expect it.”

“That’s what Mrs Potts said.”

“Well, you should trust her. She’s a very wise woman.” Cameron gently turned her face up towards him. “No matter what happens, no matter what our so-called friends might say on social occasions, no matter what happens with our family, I love you.”

Belle smiled. “I love you too.”

She kissed him again, holding on for maybe just a second too long as she tried to pour everything that she had into the kiss, to show him just how desperately she wanted and needed him. He broke away with a chuckle.

“No more of that, or you’ll never get out of the door.”

Belle grabbed her purse off the dresser and left the room, waving goodbye. Bae’s door was ajar and she knocked on the frame.

“Come in.”

He was at his computer, earphones in, working diligently on his homework. The first year of high school was taking its toll, but he seemed to be enjoying everything so far.

“Good night, Bae.”

“Night, Mom. Have fun on your girls’ night.”

“I will.”

The taxi pulled up outside the house, and Belle could hear Ariel and Ruby giggling before she even opened the front door. It was going to be a good evening. She was determined. Everything was going to be all right. The garden party would go well, and there was brunch with Carrie and Ursula to look forward to and get her through it.

And she would get pregnant, and the final member of her, Cameron and Bae’s family would come at last.


	2. Regina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina prepares for her garden party and receives a not entirely welcome visitor in the form of her stepsister Zelena.

**REGINA**

Everything was going to be fine. The caterers were on track for the party and Regina had personally selected every item on the menu. The garden was looking beautiful, and the games that she had set up in one corner to entertain the children who would be at the gathering were safely stowed under a tarpaulin on the very slim off-chance that it might rain overnight. There was no rain forecast, but Regina was determined that absolutely nothing was going to spoil this occasion. The last party that she had hosted at City Hall had been a bit of a disaster.

Well, it wouldn’t have been a disaster if her sister hadn’t decided to pick a fight with Belle Gold. The fact that Zelena had had a crush on Cameron Gold for about as long as she had lived in Storybrooke was unfortunately well-known, as was the fact that Cameron Gold was about as far from reciprocating her feelings as possible without getting a restraining order. They’d managed to stop short of an actual physical cat-fight (although no doubt that some of the more lecherous and drunken council members would have appreciated it), but Belle had certainly shown that the little bookworm taking her first steps into Storybrooke’s elite society definitely had teeth.

Robin had gone to pick Roland up from school and take him to Little League, and Regina’s day would have been absolutely perfect if it wasn’t for the fact that a bright green sports car had just parked up outside her house. Although she had never seen that particular car before, she knew that, being that shade of green, it could only belong to Zelena.

Rolling her eyes and letting out a sigh as the doorbell went, Regina wondered, not for the first time, why she kept in touch with her stepsister and kept her within their circle of friends, but ultimately she knew that it came down to family, and her mother wouldn’t take too kindly to her cutting out a family member who reminded her so much of her dear departed second husband.

Plastering a bright smile on her face, Regina opened the door.

“Zelena! What a lovely surprise. I wasn’t expecting to see you until the party tomorrow. What brings you over here today? I didn’t recognise the car, is it new?”

“Just picked it up this morning, and I thought I’d give it a run and come and see my darling sister.” Zelena kissed her on both cheeks without making contact and neatly sidestepped her into the house without being invited. “I thought that we could have a nice chat before the party tomorrow, you know that you’ll be so busy being a hostess; we never have time to talk at these events.”

Regina had known Zelena long enough to know that ‘a nice chat’ actually meant ‘scurrilous gossip because I’ve found out something that I really shouldn’t know but really need as many other people to know as possible’. She ushered her sister through to the kitchen and grabbed the open bottle of white wine out of the fridge, pouring herself a large glass. She was going to need it to get through the next half an hour. She didn’t offer one to Zelena, figuring that she was driving anyway.

“So, what’s new?” she began. Best to let Zelena get everything off her chest first.

“Well, I’ve been on this wonderful new training regime with Chad; I’ve lost three pounds this week already. You know, you should really try it yourself some time, I can give you all the tips.”

Regina made no reply to this comment, simply taking a large sip of wine and looking Zelena straight in the eye. Unperturbed, her sister continued.

“And of course, my attempts to get Robyn to actually embrace fashion and style continue to fail miserably. Sometimes I’m ashamed to call her my daughter.”

Sometimes Robyn was ashamed to call Zelena her mother, but Regina didn’t mention that. True, her stepdaughter wasn’t the most ordinary of teenagers, but Regina had long since accepted that Robyn preferred sports and other girls to make-up and boys. Zelena had accepted the girls but had yet to accept the sports.

Regina rubbed her forehead. Did anyone in the town have a more complicated family tree than she and Zelena did? In her next life, she was absolutely definitely not ever marrying someone who had previously been in a relationship with and had a child with her stepsister. Regina wasn’t even sure how she’d ended up in the situation, but in it she was, and she was making the best of it. At least she had the comfort of knowing that she and Robin had been together for longer than Zelena and Robin had been, even with the addition of Robyn into the mix.

Regina loved her family, but she did sometimes wished that it didn’t take half an hour to explain to everyone.

“But anyway, that’s beside the point, you don’t want to hear about Robyn’s failure to grasp the importance of knowing that pink is this season’s black and she doesn’t have the complexion for it anyway.”

Regina raised an eyebrow. She would beg to differ; hearing about Robyn was probably going to be infinitely preferable to whatever gossip that Zelena was spreading.  Regina enjoyed gossip for the most part, but Zelena’s did tend towards the malicious.

“What have you got to enlighten me with today, then?” she asked. Zelena leaned forward over the kitchen counter, a wide grin spreading over her face.

“I think that there might be trouble in paradise over at Chez Gold.”

“Really,” Regina replied flatly. The Golds had one of the stronger marriages of their social group, despite everyone being determined that it would never last due to the age difference.

“Well, two days ago I happened to see Belle buying a pregnancy test in the pharmacy and then yesterday, I saw her and that batch of giggling harpies she calls girlfriends enjoying mojitos at Aesop’s.”

“Zelena, as fascinating as Belle Gold’s daily life is to me, I fail to see why this constitutes trouble in paradise.”

“Well, isn’t it obvious?”

“Call me dense, Sis, but no.”

“She wouldn’t be on the mojitos if she was pregnant, so the test must have been negative. Which naturally leads me to assume that they’re going through a rough patch and she’s desperately trying to get pregnant so that Cameron will stay with her.”

Regina closed her eyes, trying to work out exactly where this huge leap of understanding had come from. Belle had never made any secret of her desire to become a mother and for all his faults, Cameron was a devoted dad to his son. She thought it was far more likely that Belle and Cameron were actively trying to expand their family and weren’t yet successful. Or, for all Regina knew, they were successful and the mojitos Belle had been enjoying were virgin.

There was no use in presenting any of these arguments to Zelena, however. Her sister was like a dog with a bone when she got an idea into her head and it was going to be impossible to sway her from her current course.

She sighed inwardly and made a mental note to try and keep Zelena and Belle as far apart from each other as possible at the party.

“Well, I’m sure that you’re aware that getting pregnant is not necessarily the best way to make a man stay with you,” she said lightly.

Zelena’s eyes narrowed. It was a bad dig, and Regina knew it, but sometimes she had to put her sister in her place and give her a taste of her own medicine. She’d lay down her life for her, but at the same time, there were some things that Regina wouldn’t tolerate and Zelena’s vendetta against Mrs Gold was one of them.

“Yes, well, things to do, places to be, people to see.” Zelena moved away from the counter and stalked back through the house towards the front door. Regina stood in the doorframe with her wine, watching as Zelena got into her car and managed to stall it whilst trying to back out of the driveway, almost colliding with Robin and Roland coming in. Regina allowed herself a little smile. She might just have made life incredibly difficult for herself at the party tomorrow, but it had been worth it at the time, and Regina wasn’t Storybrooke’s alpha hostess for nothing.

Everything was going to be fine.

“Did you have a nice chat with your sister?” Robin asked lightly as Roland bounded up towards the house and gave Regina a quick hug before rushing inside.

“It was about as enjoyable as my little chats with her usually are,” she said. “Luckily I had an excellent chardonnay to keep me going.”

“Will I need to be on standby to pull apart any brawling women tomorrow?”

“No, no. Mother will be here, and she should put a stop to any of that. Although, that said, she quite fancies Cameron Gold herself, so perhaps I’ll have to keep both of them at opposite ends of the garden as well.”

Robin shook his head. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand neighbourhood politics. As long as there’s food, I’ll be happy.”

“You can hide in the kids play area with Roland. Robyn and Bae will probably join you.”

Regina closed the front door. Although she was confident about what the next day’s party would bring, there was still a hint of doubt in her that wondered if it was going to be unforgettable for all the wrong reasons.


	3. Belle - Mary Margaret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belle and Mary Margaret attend Regina's party and reflect on how they came to be part of this social circle.

**BELLE**

The day of the garden party dawned bright and clear, with the sun high in the sky and not a cloud in sight, with just enough of a gentle breeze to make the weather pleasant instead of stiflingly hot. Belle was rifling through her closet looking for the best dress to wear. She wanted something fun and light and summery, so yellow was probably a good bet, but at the same time, she really didn’t want all the bugs in Regina’s garden to think that she was a gigantic new shiny flower to snack on.

Then again, Regina’s life was always so perfect and put together that she probably didn’t even have any bugs in her garden to start with.

There was also the question of hemlines. Belle liked her skirts short, she always had done; it was part of her style and she always smiled when she remembered the fact that it was one of the first things that Cameron had noticed about her. Belle had never really given much thought to the length of her skirts until the last time she’d been at a party that didn’t require a fancy gown, and a couple of people had been making very audible comments that short skirts really weren’t appropriate for such a gathering. What would her husband say? Surely he could see that all the other men in the room were ogling her knees. He ought to tell her to cover up.  

Screw it; let them wear sensible knee-length skirts and she would wear whatever she wanted. She didn’t dress for anyone else. Well, except on special occasions… Belle blushed, thinking of the outfits stowed away at the back of her underwear drawer. Those were definitely not to be worn in public.

She decided on a lemon yellow sundress that would show off her knees, pulling it on and wondering how many comments she was going to get. She knew that she was always bound to get some wherever she went. She was the newest arrival into their little society and they’d always viewed her as a bit odd, especially the fact that she still chose to keep working at the library even though Cameron had more than enough money to support her.

Belle had never really liked the idea of being a trophy wife. She’d never really had any intention of joining this little clique that she’d become part of, but with Cameron’s position as landlord of most of the town and influential in the council, it had been part and parcel of being involved with him. Ultimately she was Cameron’s wife first, and a social fixture second. She liked the luxury, she wouldn’t deny that. She enjoyed being able to afford designer shoes and handbags and she liked buying as many books as she wanted. Still, she would have been just as happy without all that, as long as she had Cameron and Bae.

“Ready to go?” Cameron had popped his head around the door and Belle nodded, grabbing her purse.

“Do I look all right?”

“You look as radiant as always.”

It was a short walk to Regina’s place and there were already quite a few people that Belle recognised milling about in the garden. Bae immediately absented himself and vanished through the crowds, not really wanting to spend too much time with Belle and Gold when he was a self-respecting high school student. Belle could quite understand his need for independence but at the same time, she was very grateful that Regina had not made this into an adults’ only party and that Bae had decided to come. She always felt that adults were much more inclined to behave themselves when they might be making an impression on their offspring.

She looked around to see who was there; Ariel and Mary Margaret, her usual back-up for these kinds of events, hadn’t arrived yet, but Zelena was talking to Cora and not paying Belle any attention. Belle knew from experience that once Zelena got her conversational claws into someone, it was very hard to shake her off, so hopefully she’d be occupied for the rest of the afternoon.

“I’m very glad that you could come,” Regina said, coming over to them looking as impeccable as always. No one would know that she was hosting what was likely to become an extremely stressful occasion. Belle knew that if she had been in Regina’s shoes and if they had all been gathered in her and Cameron’s garden instead, she would already be tearing her hair out even though half the guests hadn’t arrived yet.

“It’s good to see you, Regina,” Cameron said. “How are things at the town hall?”

Regina rolled her eyes. “Well, the council won’t take any of my suggestions for improvements on board but then you already know that, you’ve been at all the meetings. To be honest, sometimes I think that organising parties is easier. I’m in the wrong business; I should go into high-end party planning. Last night I was dreaming up what to do for Roland’s birthday and Robin had to stop me from going overboard and renting out the entire aquarium.”

“Slightly excessive,” Cameron agreed.

Belle looked over at the area where most of the kids (and somewhat older kids) had congregated, with Robin and Roland in the middle. If she thought that her family tree was complicated with her being Cameron’s second wife and Bae’s stepmother, then it was nothing compared to Regina. It was always nice to know that someone had it worse than you when it came to buying Christmas presents for all the extended family members.

“How’s the library?” Regina asked presently, and Belle was brought back into the present with a jolt. “I’ve seen Marian’s planning proposals for it, and they look good. I can’t see why they shouldn’t get approved.”

“That’s great, thank you Regina.”

The talk continued about their various workplaces for a while as more and more guests started to arrive. Belle still wasn’t entirely sure what the ultimate point of this party was other than to get everybody in the neighbourhood together to drink expensive wine and eat expensive food and try not to kill each other, but so far, everything was going well.

Cameron squeezed her hand.

“How are you getting on?”

Belle took a large gulp of champagne and nearly choked on the bubbles.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Let’s go and say hello to everyone so that no-one will think that we’re snubbing them.”

It was time to be excruciatingly polite to people, but she knew that Cameron would definitely make it worth her while later. He didn’t enjoy these events any more than she did and only came to them because it was much easier for him to make deals with people when they were somewhat under the influence of a party atmosphere.

She glanced around, looking for Bae, and saw him talking to Emma Nolan in one corner, and Belle smiled. Now that was a friendship she really didn’t mind seeing how it unfolded.

X

**MARY MARGARET**

As soon as they had arrived at the party, Emma had made a bee line for the buffet table where Bae was hanging around, trying to look cool and look like his parents hadn’t brought him to a party where the highlight of the entertainment was probably going to be watching Regina try desperately to keep everyone from killing each other. For some people that was probably very entertaining, but Mary Margaret herself always ended up having near palpitations whenever she came to any of these events, be they hosted by Regina or not.

She would have thought that, growing up as the sole heir of the Blanchard Group, she would be used to these kinds of events by now, but despite having been attending parties since before she was born, she never felt comfortable here among the small talk and the thinly-veiled bitching. She adjusted baby Neal on her hip and made her way over to the nearest tray of drinks, grabbing an orange juice. She would have quite happily killed for something a bit stronger, but she hadn’t had time to pump any milk before coming out and it probably wasn’t a good idea for Neal to be getting champagne this early in his life.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” David said amiably. “It’s a lovely day and Zelena’s over in that corner trying to butter up her stepmother, so I’m sure that nothing bad is going to happen for the foreseeable future.”

“It’s not the foreseeable future I’m worried about,” Mary Margaret muttered. “It’s the things that can’t be foreseen, like random flying mini-quiches.”

“I am sure that there will not be mini-quiches at dawn.”

It was all right for David. He rarely ever came to these parties with her, feeling awkward and out of place among all the social elite when his only claim to fame was winning the animal shelter’s annual dog show twice in a row, and on the intermittent occasions when he did come along to give her moral support, he always treated the whole thing as an entertaining day out at some kind of interactive theatre experience.

There was a tap on her shoulder and she turned to find Belle there.

“Can I come and hang out with you?” she asked. “Cameron’s talking shop with Albert Spencer and I felt like I was about to die of boredom.”

“Certainly,” David said. “We’re taking bets on whether there’ll be mini-quiches at dawn or whether anyone will be discovered in flagrante under the buffet table.”

“David! Stop messing around!”

“We have to mess around, it’s the only way to survive one of these events.”

Despite everything, Mary Margaret had to smile. She was so used to attending these parties alone and when David did come, she was always grateful for the both the levity and the common sense that he tended to bring to the proceedings.

Neal began to grizzle in her arms and since she’d only just changed him before they came out to the party, Mary Margaret figured that he must be hungry, and she went into the house to find a quiet place to feed him, inviting Belle along to keep her company.

“I take it that there’s no luck on the baby horizon for you two yet?” she asked as Neal nursed.

Belle shook her head. “Everyone says that it’ll come when we least expect it and I just need to stop being so paranoid about it for a while.”

“I think there’s a lot of truth in that,” Mary Margaret agreed. “You know, if you and Cameron ever want to take some time away for yourselves, go out to the cabin for some adult alone time, then Bae’s always welcome to stay with us for the weekend.”

Belle bit her lip.

“That does sound great. Are you sure it won’t be a problem? I mean, you already have your hands full with this one.”

“It’ll be fine,” Mary Margaret assured her. “Bae can feed and dress himself so he’s a doddle in comparison. Besides, I already have one freshman stressed out about final exams; there’s something in the phrase ‘misery loves company’. They can help each other study.”

Belle nodded. “I’ll speak to Cameron and Bae about it. Thanks, Mary.”

“You’re very welcome. After all, we all need to look out for each other in this life.”

Mary Margaret watched Belle go back out into the garden. She really hoped that some good luck would come to them soon.


	4. Belle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the party, Belle and Cameron meet up with old friends for a well-earned bitching session.

**BELLE**

“So, how was it?”

Belle raised an eyebrow as Ursula leaned in over the dining table, her face full of morbid interest.

“You were at the party too, Ursula. Surely you don’t need me to tell you how it was.”

“Yes, but I didn’t get to speak to you as much as I wanted to because I was busy trying to prevent Carrie from making a spectacle of herself after a few too many glasses of bubbly.”

“I did not make a spectacle of myself!” Carrie protested. “Pass the bacon.”

“The only reason you did not make a spectacle of yourself is because I was there to stop you from initiating a karaoke tournament,” Ursula pointed out. “Sometimes I wonder why I bring you to these things.”

“Well, someone’s got to liven them up.” Carrie sniffed emphatically as she took the bacon. “I’m sure that David Nolan would have been up for karaoke. I needed to entertain myself somehow. You were talking shop with Ariel and Eric Prince all evening and I was  _bored_!”

Sometimes Belle found it hard to believe that Carrie was a top lawyer in the family court known for her ball-breaking, take no prisoners attitude, able to make even the most hardened of judges quake in their boots at the mere mention of her name. She and Cameron had met years ago when they had interned at the same partnership and had remained in touch long after Cameron had left the legal profession. Carrie and Ursula’s arrival in Storybrooke had certainly caused more than a few raised eyebrows among the gossips, Carrie’s outrageous appearance being the main cause of the whispers, but Carrie had never cared what anyone thought of her, and her presence in Belle’s life was a breath of fresh air in the stuffy society that she had found herself in.

“Anyway, what I’m trying to ask is how was the party for you?” Ursula brought them deftly back to the point. “There were no raised voices or flying foodstuffs so I’m counting that one as a success.”

“Well, I managed to avoid Zelena West all evening by hiding whenever it looked like she was coming near.” Belle shuddered at the thought of having to talk to the woman who had styled herself as her rival without any input from Belle herself.

“She’s a piece of work that one,” Ursula muttered, glaring at the toast rack as if it had done something to offend her. “Airing everyone’s dirty laundry, as if she hasn’t got any of her own. You know I’m not entirely sure that Robyn’s father is the man she’s always claimed him to be. She just wants an excuse to stick around here and meddle. I know she’s Regina’s stepsister, but I don’t think that there’s a lot of love lost there either.”

“At this point I wouldn’t put anything past her,” Cameron said from the other end of the table. “Put her and Cora together and you have an absolutely lethal combination. It’s a great relief that Zelena didn’t take up the family business. Can you imagine her in local government?”

“You know, I keep expecting her to get a seat on the council just so that she can spend meetings ogling you, Cameron,” Carrie said. “She’s hardly been subtle in her admiration.”

“Yes, and don’t I know it.” Cameron shook his head. “Nothing about that woman is subtle. Short of a restraining order, I’m not quite sure how to get her away from me.”

“It makes no sense in my book,” Ursula mused. “If, in some weird parallel universe, she succeeded in her mission and got Cameron to have an affair with her or leave Belle for her entirely, then she’s only making herself into the villain of the piece. No amount of poison that she could spread would change that or garner any sympathy for her, and it wouldn’t paint her precious Cameron in the best of lights either.”

“Well, no-one ever claimed that common sense was one of Zelena’s strong points,” Belle said. “I don’t think that she ever thinks about anything more than what she wants in the present, and what she wants in the present is Cam.”

“It wouldn’t be so bad if she didn’t already have a nice hunk of man candy on her arm,” Carrie said. “What? I’m bi, I’m not blind. What do you think her latest catch thinks of all this?”

“I doubt he’s realised yet.” Ursula snorted. “She does seem to change them as often as she changes her underwear. I think she has them on rotation, a different one for every day of the week.”

Belle burst out laughing and tried to cover it with a discreet cough into her napkin. Carrie just gave her an amused look.

“It’s all right, dear, we’re all as bad as each other,” she said.

“I know, I know. I just don’t want to be as bad as Zelena.” Belle sighed. “Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy our little brunch bitching sessions like this, but I can’t help thinking that the one we’re bitching about is doing exactly the same thing this morning and I don’t want to sink to her level.”

“When it comes to people like Zelena, there’s no point in taking the moral high ground because it’s completely meaningless to them,” Ursula said sagely. “Don’t feel bad about it. Besides, you know that we only talk about these things within the confines of this lovely conservatory. We don’t go spreading our thoughts all around the town.”

“And come on, after all the poison that she puts out about everyone else, it’s nice to get our own back,” Carrie said. She swirled the straw of her Bloody Mary around in her glass. “It’s Robyn that I feel sorry for. She’s getting to that age when the things that her mother says and does are going to affect her. But speaking of, when’s Tilly next coming?”

Belle smiled. Cameron’s goddaughter had certainly hit it off with Robyn the last time that she had visited, and Belle couldn’t wait to see that relationship blossom.

“She hasn’t said, but she’s overdue a visit. She’ll probably come before summer’s over.”

“It’ll be good to see her again.”

They fell into silence as they continued to eat, hunger outweighing the need to gossip.

“Speaking of young love, though, I did notice that Emma and Bae were spending a lot of time together yesterday,” Carrie said presently. “I think that you might want to keep an eye on those two. They’re getting to that age now.”

Belle cast her mind back to what Mary Margaret had said about having Bae to stay for a few days so that she and Cameron could have some alone time for uninterrupted baby-making. Maybe they ought to stipulate that the two teens be chaperoned all the time.

“Yes, well,” she said quickly, deciding that it would probably be a good idea to change the subject. “What’s the next big event? I know that Regina’s organising Roland’s birthday party, but I don’t think we’ll be invited to that.”

“No, I think that would be smalls and the parents of smalls only,” Carrie said. “Not that the parents won’t be in dire need of a drink by the end of it. A dozen kids under the age of ten running around hyped on sugar and food colouring is not my idea of fun.”

Belle gave a somewhat wistful sigh. Although it was still a way off, she was already thinking about brightly coloured frosting and balloons. Cameron reached under the table and squeezed her hand.

“I think that the next event in our social calendar would be Ariel’s birthday in two weeks,” Belle said, dragging her thoughts away from what could have been. “I think she’s just planning something small with a few friends; she’s never been great at organising big parties and she and Eric have been so caught up in doing up the boat and opening up their New York office recently that she doesn’t have the energy for party planning.”

“Yes, it’s always much easier when you can just turn up and get drunk instead of having to be a nice responsible host,” Carrie mused. “Maybe that’s why I always enjoy other people’s parties far more than my own.”

“You turn up and get drunk at your own parties,” Ursula pointed out. “I ended up hosting your fortieth because you were too busy dancing on the punch table.”

“And an excellent night was had by all,” Carrie said with a grin of nostalgia. “We ended the evening sitting on lilos in the swimming pool with Cameron teaching us some incredibly rude songs about kilts.”

Belle looked sideways at her husband. “I take it that this is from before we were an item.”

Gold nodded. “You’d only just moved to town and I’d only just got divorced. Things were a bit lively then.”

“ _A Scotsman clad in kilt left the bar one evening fair,”_  Carrie began to sing, breaking off when Ursula stamped on her foot under the table.

“Carrie, we have polite company and it’s not even twelve o’clock yet, have some decorum!”

“I really don’t mind,” Belle protested, but the rest of the song remained unsung. She’d have to get Cameron to tell her the rest of the lyrics later.

Brunch continued to be a riotous affair, and by the end of it, any lingering stresses that Belle might have had from the previous evening had been thoroughly squashed. It always lightened her heart to know that whatever happened, Carrie and Ursula would always stand by her and Cameron’s side.

As they were walking back along the road towards the pink house, Belle slipped her arm through Cameron’s, enjoying their closeness.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said,” he began presently. “About Mary Margaret’s offer.”

“Yes?”

“I think we’re a little overdue a break, and I’m sure that Bae wouldn’t mind being able to spend more time with Emma. I’ll call Dove and get him to make sure that the cabin’s ready for next weekend.”

Belle smiled.

“Thank you, Cam.”

Even if nothing did come of it, it would certainly be nice to spend a romantic weekend away. As Cameron had said, they were overdue, with other stresses of life and business and work eating into their time with each other. It would be nice to take a day or two to reconnect as husband and wife.


	5. Mary Margaret - Ariel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mary Margaret reflects on love, life, motherhood and growing up, and Ariel makes plans for her birthday.

**MARY MARGARET**

"Is there any reason why you're staring out of the kitchen window? Or rather, why you have been staring out of the kitchen window for the last half an hour without moving?"

Mary Margaret tore her gaze away from the window and looked over at David, who was sitting at the kitchen table with a tube of superglue and several pieces of broken china. Neal had been grizzling and his wildly flailing little baby arms were surprisingly strong, and a vintage ornament had been knocked over. He looked up at her sagely.

"I can't decide whether you're watching them to make sure that nothing happens or because you want something to happen."

Mary Margaret rolled her eyes and came to sit down at the table with him, but she had to admit that she wasn't entirely sure herself what her motivations were. Bae and Emma were sitting outside on the deck, study books spread out over the table between them as they tested each other on the things that they were sure were going to come up in their final exams. 

On the one hand, it was good that Emma had a friend, especially one like Bae who would help her to study, as Emma had never been the most academically minded of people. 

On the other hand, the idea that Emma was of an age where she was starting to get interested in other people in a romantic fashion was absolutely terrifying.

"They're only fourteen, David. It's such a stupid age, because they're not really little children anymore, but they're still so far from being adults that you want to wrap them up in cotton wool and protect them from everything. At the same time, if you do that, then they'll go out into the world when they hit eighteen and they're completely unprepared for any of it." She paused. "Coming to think of it, I'm still unprepared and I'm thirty-six. I'm glad I'm not at work at the moment, I can't believe that people actually look to me to make important decisions on a daily basis."

David reached across and took her hand. "You're doing fine. You're doing your best, all of us are. Parenting doesn't come with a manual, nor does running multi-million dollar international companies."

"I can't believe how quickly it's gone. It seems like only yesterday that we held her for the first time. Do you think it's going to be like this with Neal as well? He's going to grow up in the blink of an eye too."

"Maybe. But whatever happens, we'll enjoy it."

A peal of laughter came from the deck outside, Emma exclaiming victory because she'd got all of the questions on the pop quiz correct whilst Bae had made a mistake. Mary Margaret glanced over at the window again.

“Do you think I ought to take them some snacks or something?”

David shook his head. “No. Leave them be. If they’re hungry, they’ll come and get something in their own time. Don’t put them off their flow. They’re actually learning things, so we should be grateful for that.” He paused. “Maybe you can go out there if it looks like they’ve got distracted by their phones or something. You worry too much, Mary.”

“I can’t help it!”

David squeezed her hand. “I never said it was entirely a bad thing.”

Mary Margaret looked down their interlaced fingers. "Are we going to be stuck together now?"

“Well, if we are then I can’t think of anyone whom I’d rather be stuck to than you.”

“You romantic.”

She leaned over to kiss him before they began the process of unsticking themselves, and they both looked up when Emma and Bae came into the kitchen, their arms full of books.

“We need a break, so we’re going to take Wilby for his evening walk,” Emma announced. She looked at her glued together parents, raised an eyebrow, and said nothing. “Is that ok?”

Considering that she’d already dumped her books on the table and grabbed Wilby’s lead, there wasn’t a lot of point in telling her no.

“As long as you’re back before it’s dark,” Mary Margaret said. “Otherwise we’ll send out a search party.”

Emma nodded. “We’ll be careful. Come on Wilby! Walkies!”

There was a loud ‘woof!’ from another room, and Wilby zoomed into the kitchen, tail wagging so hard it was in danger of falling off.

Bae and Emma left, and Mary Margaret watched them go. At least if they were out in public walking the dog and had a dusk curfew, they wouldn’t be getting up to things they shouldn’t, and it was probably a good thing to let them have some time without her watching like a hawk. Parenting was hard, especially when she was bringing up her own children in a very different environment to the one she herself had been raised in. With her father constantly absent running his business and her mother - whilst she had been alive - constantly absent playing at being the perfect society wife, most of her childhood had been spent in the care of various nannies and housekeepers, who, whilst lovely people, couldn’t really make up for the lack of parental interest in her life.

Mary Margaret had been determined that her own children were not going to end up in the same position. Maybe that made her too protective, too involved in their lives. Maybe it was a good thing. She had read somewhere that people always try to give their children the things in life that they never had. Mary was lucky in that her family’s privilege meant she’d never wanted for material things, but love and acceptance… Those were the things she was desperate to give her own children.

David succeeded in unsticking their fingers and went over to wash his hands as Neal began to snuffle on the baby monitor. Mary Margaret was reminded of the underlying reason why Bae was staying over with them, and she wondered how Belle and Gold were getting on, before going beetroot red and deciding that it would definitely be better to leave them to their own devices.

David caught her blush as he left the room to see to Neal.

“You know what? I’m not even going to ask. I’ve been following your trains of thought for long enough to know exactly what you’re thinking about.”

“Yeah, don’t make me think about it any more than I already am.”

David just laughed, and Mary Margaret sighed. She really had fallen on her feet with this man, and she wouldn’t change him for the world.

X

**ARIEL**

Lying on the deck of the boat, looking up at the stars above them and feeling the slight lap of the water against the hull, Ariel reached across in the darkness for Eric’s hand.

“Do you think it could be like this forever?” she asked. “Just you and me and this boat, sailing all around the world, without a care?”

Eric laughed. “I don’t think that it would always be like this. It wouldn’t be like this in the middle of the Atlantic.”

“All right. Maybe we’d just stick to sunnier climes. But it would be perfect, wouldn’t it? None of the backstabbing and bitching that always happens sooner or later.”

Eric rolled over onto his stomach so that he could pour some more wine and look Ariel in the eye. He leaned over her and she raised herself up on her elbows to kiss him.

“What’s brought on this sudden desire to escape, then?” he asked.

She wrinkled her nose. “I’m planning who to invite to my birthday party,” she said. “Just wondering how much noise Zelena will make if I don’t invite her. I mean, she never gets included in anything that our circle of friends does except when Regina invites her, and even that’s only by familial obligation.”

Eric raised an eyebrow. “Surely she must see that she’s not wanted.”

Ariel nodded and wriggled into a seated position so that she could drink without throwing it over herself.

“Yeah, she knows she’s not wanted, that’s not the problem. She just turns up anyway because she likes making everyone uncomfortable.”

“Still, she’s not going to be at your party, so there’s no point in discussing her now.” Eric made a face. “Let’s just forget she exists and enjoy ourselves without her casting a green shadow over everything. You’re going to have a great party, nothing’s going to happen, and we’ll all have a good time.”

Ariel took a sip of her wine, leaning on Eric’s shoulder and putting all thoughts of Zelena out of her mind.

“Do you remember last year?” Eric mused. “Carrie and Ursula and Regina got into a dance battle and it went viral on Youtube for three months.”

“Yes, the fact that we were in the middle of a Japanese restaurant only made it even more entertaining. I’m hoping that nothing like that happens this year. Regina has the reputation of being the classy one with very elegant parties, and I have the reputation of being the fun-loving one with parties where everyone gets off their heads on sake and starts dancing. I’m turning thirty-five, I want to have at least one respectable birthday.”

“Nah, respectable’s overrated. You just be you. That’s what you’re always telling Belle at these functions, to be herself.”

Ariel nodded. “Yeah. I guess carefree and fun-loving isn’t so bad a thing to be. To a great party and whatever dance battles and Internet fame may arise from them.”

She chinked her glass against Eric’s, and was soon lost in happy thoughts of riotous social engagements gone by.

All the same, the idea of opting out of society and just leaving everything to sail around the Caribbean was still a very tempting one.


	6. Belle - Regina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belle enjoys a romantic weekend away with Cameron, and Regina reflects on her work-life balance.

**BELLE**

It was late on Sunday morning when Belle opened her eyes to bright sunlight streaming in through the cabin’s bedroom window, and she had to smile at having been so thoroughly tired out the previous day. She and Cameron were certainly making the most of their weekend without Bae, and although Belle loved her stepson as if he were her own, it had been nice to have some time alone to revisit the insatiable appetites for each other that they’d had just after they began their relationship.

The bedroom door opened, and Belle turned over to see Cam entering with a breakfast tray, his robe cinched loosely and showing a delicious sliver of chest. She licked her lips, and he raised an eyebrow.

“Somehow I don’t think that’s in anticipation of the French toast.”

“Well, I’m sure that the French toast will taste wonderful, and after yesterday I think I need to keep my strength up.” She ached, but it was a pleasant ache, the type caused by a day of rediscovering everything that she adored about her husband’s body. “But you’re correct. There are other things on the menu that I’m rather excited to sample.”

Cam handed over the tray before getting back into bed beside her and snagging a strawberry off her plate.

“Hey, get your own!”

Cam just grinned at her and took another berry. “You love me really.”

“Yes, I do, that’s the entire problem.” She continued to eat, feeding bites to Cam as she went along. Once she was done, she rested her hands on her stomach with a satisfied little grunt and gave a giggle as she came to a realisation.

Cam gave her a look over the top of his coffee cup. “What’s tickled your fancy?”

“You, hopefully, soon enough.”

“Minx.”

“You love me really.”

“That, my dear, is the entire problem.” He leaned over and kissed her, licking the sweet syrup off her lips, and Belle sighed with happiness as she pulled away.

“I’d just realised that this is the first time all weekend that I’ve actually thought about getting pregnant.”

“Considering what we’ve been doing all weekend, I consider that to be something close to a miracle.”

Belle laughed. “Well, it’s made me hopeful. Mrs Potts said that she was sure that something would happen as soon as I stopped worrying about trying to make a baby and just started enjoying being with you again. And even now that I’m thinking about it, I’m not stressed about it. Even if nothing happens as a result of this weekend, I’m hardly likely to regret this, am I?”

“Well, I’m certainly not going to.” Cam slipped his robe off and kicked it out from between the covers. “Do you think I can make you forget all about getting pregnant again?”

Belle laughed, welcoming him into her arms with a deep, fierce kiss.

“Let’s see if we can do that, shall we?”

X

Later on, whilst Cam was still dozing, Belle slipped out of bed and grabbed his robe, tiptoeing through the cabin to stand on the deck outside, overlooking the river that flowed at the back of the property. It had been a wonderful weekend and it wasn’t over yet. Idly she wondered how Bae and Emma were getting on with their revision sessions. Exams started next week, but then there would be a glorious summer stretched out in front of them, and Belle couldn’t wait. Tilly had already booked herself in for a visit to her godfather, and by proxy Robyn. No matter what happened biologically as a result of this little love-nest, there was so much in the future to look forward to.

And maybe Mrs Potts’ words would ring true after all. Belle made the mental promise to herself that she would not buy a new pregnancy test this month. If it happened, it happened, but for now, she didn’t want any doubts clouding this moment of bliss.

She felt arms come around her and Cam’s mouth press a kiss to her neck.

“Fancy a dip before dinner?”

Belle unfastened the robe and made to slip it off her shoulders. “I can’t think of anything I’d like more.”

X

**REGINA**

Roland’s birthday party at the aquarium had been an unmitigated success, although incredibly exhausting. Still, seeing all the children leave with their party favour bags and smiles on their faces made it worthwhile in the end.

Robin came over with a paper cup of coffee from the cafeteria just as the last guest was picked up and left the carpark.

“You know, I love Roland but I’m very glad he only has a birthday once a year,” he said.

“Yes. It’s like Christmas. It happens so infrequently that you block out all the memories of the last one and make all the same mistakes again. And also, because it’s only once a year, you go overboard to make up for the fact he has to wait another twelve whole months for the next party.”

Robin just looked at her with a raised eyebrow and Regina laughed. “Ok. _I_ go overboard.”

“You do. But I’m very grateful that you do. I would never be able to handle something like this on my own.”

He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss. Roland, sitting in the entrance area re-enacting Baywatch with plastic dolphins, looked up for a moment and then returned to his game, uninterested in what the grown-ups were doing.

Regina smiled. “Thanks for putting up with my exuberance.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Their moment was cut short by Regina’s phone ringing and she heaved a sigh, fishing it out of her coat pocket. Robin looked at the phone and then up at Regina.

“Is there a reason why you brought your work phone to the aquarium with you?” There was nothing accusatory in his tone, but Regina herself had admitted often enough to bringing her work home with her more than she should, and she’d enlisted his help to try and get her back on the straight and narrow.

“No. Just habit I suppose.” She looked at the caller and grimaced.

“Who is it?”

“Fiona,” Regina muttered darkly. She went to answer the call, but Robin closed his hand over hers.

“It’s a Sunday. Whatever it is can wait until you see her tomorrow. Nothing can be so important that she needs to interrupt your weekend.”

“Unfortunately, your definition of important and Fiona’s don’t always match up, and if I don’t answer now I’ll just spend all evening wondering what it is she wants to talk about. Best to get it over and done with now.”

She answered the call just before it cut to voicemail. Since Fiona was nominally her superior, she would normally put on a bright and polite telephone voice when she dealt with her, but today her greeting was a flat ‘what’.

_“No hello, Regina dear? I do hope I’m not disturbing you.”_

“Well, now that you mention it…”

_“Oh yes, I forgot, it’s little Ronald’s birthday today, isn’t it?”_

“Roland, and yes, so if we could wrap this up sharpish so that I can get back to that, which is something I’d much rather be doing than talking to you, I’d be much obliged.”

_“Of course, of course. I was only calling to warn you that Belfrey Developments are coming in to discuss their new planning proposal tomorrow morning. It’s a bit last minute, but everything only got pushed through yesterday.”_

“What? I thought we’d blocked their planning proposals!” In fact, Regina knew that the council had blocked Belfrey Development’s plans to build over 100 new homes on Storybrooke’s rapidly diminishing green space because she’d headed up the blocking campaign herself.

_“Yes, I know, you did a wonderful job on it, darling, but there are powers higher than us at work here.”_

“You mean they bribed the head of the council.”

 _“Now, now, Regina.”_ Fiona tsk-ed down the phone and Regina really wished that she was in the office at that moment so that she could throw something at her colleague. _“Don’t be so cynical. I’ve seen their new proposals and you know, they really would be bringing a lot of benefit to the community.”_

“So, they bribed you as well as the head of the council.”

Fiona’s honeyed tone changed.

 _“I was simply ringing to inform you,”_ she snapped before hanging up.

Regina smiled. “Well, that got rid of her, but I hate dealing with Victoria Belfrey. Why the blazes couldn’t she stay tearing up Seattle instead of spreading her wings across the country? Is she determined not to stop until there’s not a single blade of grass left in America?”

“Quite possibly.” Robin put an arm around her, guiding her towards the aquarium doors and calling for Roland to follow them. He packed up his dolphins in the blink of an eye and came over, grabbing Regina’s hand and beginning to babble on about how brilliant his party had been, especially the dolphin show, culminating in a heartfelt ‘thank you Regina!’ that made all the stress of hosting the event completely worth it.

Maybe it was time to leave the world of local government behind and go into high-end party-planning as a living. Before she did that though, she was going to have to get through a meeting with Fiona Ebony and Victoria Belfrey. Regina was absolutely not looking forward to Monday.

 


	7. Ariel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ariel celebrates her birthday but an unwelcome presence mars the evening.

**ARIEL**

So far, everything at the party seemed to be going very well. Everyone was behaving themselves and no-one had started dancing on the tables. As entertaining as last year’s events had been, Ariel was glad about that. This year, she’d chosen to host the party at a new fish speciality restaurant that had just opened near the docks. Spending so much time there working on the boat, Ariel and Eric were well aware of all the new developments going on and they’d been quick to try this one out. Now it had become a firm favourite, and she really didn’t want to end up banned for raucous behaviour.

Although Ariel always enjoyed her birthday parties, there was also a slight sense of frustration at the constant onward march of time. Everything went by so quickly now. It didn’t seem two minutes since she’d graduated college, met Eric, and started their business, all in the same year. Now the business was thriving and practically running itself; she’d been married to Eric for ten years, and the thought of grabbing him and making a run for it on the boat was becoming ever more tempting.

To make matters worse, her father was talking about grandchildren again. It had been the first thing he’d said to her on the phone this morning after wishing her happy birthday - expressing his hopes that she and Eric would finally start thinking about having a family now, because after all, women’s fertility started to drop after the age of thirty-five, everyone knew that. Ariel had hung up on him, not sure what made her skin crawl more: the fact that her father was talking so enthusiastically about her fertility or the fact he was still adamant that Ariel should have a baby and make him a grandfather despite the fact that he had three other daughters, all of whom had children. Ariel had seven nieces and nephews and she had no intention of adding any more to the family. It was something that she and Eric had discussed very early on - no kids. The tropical fish in their aquarium were children enough for them.

Speaking of children, though… Ariel glanced down the table at Belle, chatting animatedly to Carrie. She’d been on soft drinks all evening, and Ariel wondered if something had finally happened in that area. She hoped that it had; Belle was so desperate to be a mother and Ariel could sympathise with her frustration even if she had no desire to feel it herself.

The meal was coming to a close, with glasses being refilled for what was probably the last time. That said, when this particular group of people got together to celebrate an occasion, they could quite easily sit there until the restaurant closed.

“Happy birthday, Mrs Prince.”

Ariel turned as Sebastian, the head chef, came over to her from the kitchens, and she smiled.

“Thank you, Sebastian. The food has been absolutely wonderful, as always. I think you outdid yourself with the lobster tails this time.”

“I always try to. I need to keep you coming back for more; you’re my best customer.”

“That can’t be true, surely.”

“Oh no. Without you I’d go out of business. So, I’ve prepared a little something for you as a thank you, and an incentive to return again, of course.” He waved over to the kitchen and one of the other chefs came out bearing a birthday cake with candles as the rest of the staff gathered around to sing happy birthday. Thankfully, Ariel had never been one to be easily embarrassed by such gestures, and she just raised an eyebrow at Eric across the table from her. He gave a sheepish shrug.

“I thought you deserved something special. It’s a milestone birthday, after all.”

Thirty-five years old. Where had all that time gone?

The cake was a glorious confection of silver and purple frosting in the shape of an oyster holding a shiny pearl, and despite being full of seafood, no-one could resist a slice of the rich chocolate cake beneath the icing. More wine was poured, the chatter around the table became louder and more animated, and Ariel really wouldn’t have minded if anyone had got up and started dancing as long as they didn’t stand in the cake.

She had never been one for the idea of a false sense of security, always taking everything as it came, but after tonight, she would certainly appreciate the meaning of the phrase.

“It seems as if I’ve missed the party, then. How distressing. Of course, since I didn’t receive an invitation, it was somewhat difficult to track you down.”

Zelena had arrived, and if Ariel hadn’t been so incandescently furious, she would have laughed at the forced drama of her entrance. Everyone else in the restaurant was looking at her, and it was akin to the beginning of Sleeping Beauty when Maleficent arrived. Zelena was certainly doing her best impression of a cartoon villain, but Ariel was too angry to laugh it off as she might otherwise have done. On the whole she was a laid-back person, not usually living up to the fiery redhead stereotype and usually being the one to step in when Zelena started antagonising someone else, like Belle.

Today though, Zelena’s sheer audacity was too much for even Ariel to bear, and the scrape of her chair legs on the floor was excruciatingly loud n the now silent restaurant. With all the cold poise and dignity that she had gained from years of hard-headed negotiation as she’d built up her business, she stepped around the table and over to Zelena.

“Surely, Zelena, the fact that you didn’t receive an invitation would have told you that you were not wanted at this gathering, so I’m at a loss for why you felt the need to track us down in the first place.”

“Not wanted? How rude.”

“No, Zelena, what’s rude is you walking in here uninvited and ruining what had been, up until your arrival, a perfectly pleasant evening. In what universe is such a thing ever acceptable? If you’ve got a problem with me, Zelena, then you know where I live, but I’d appreciate it if you air those grievances to me and me alone rather than making a spectacle of yourself in front of my friends. _That_ is rude.”

“Madam, I must ask you to leave.” Sebastian had come back out of the kitchen. Ariel didn’t know if he was holding the rather large cleaver on purpose, but she certainly liked the effect. “You’re disturbing the other guests.”

“This isn’t over,” Zelena hissed. “I won’t be ostracised by you, or any of you. I’ve earned my place at this table just like any of you, so don’t you turn your noses up at me. At least I didn’t marry a man twice my age for his money or snap up some poor yokel off a farm out of pity.” These last two remarks were directed at Belle and Mary Margaret, and Ariel was so close to slapping Zelena around the face that she had to curl her hands into fists to stop herself, nails biting into her palms and leaving angry red crescents there. Luckily, Zelena flounced away at that point, and the other diners, sensing that the entertainment was over, went back to their meals.

“Come on, babe.” Eric came over and slipped an arm around her waist. “It’s over now, she’s gone. Forget about her and enjoy the rest of the evening.”

Ariel turned back towards the table. Conversation had tentatively started again. Mary Margaret was rolling her eyes; comments about her marriage had long since stopped affecting her. Belle had gone beet red and was refusing to meet anyone’s eyes, still sensitive to it all. Regina had her head in her hands. The evening would continue, but it had been irreparably spoiled now, and Ariel couldn’t help but fear that it just wasn’t over yet. Zelena was petty, and she did not like being bested; everyone knew that. She was probably cooking up a dish of revenge right now.

Still, there was nothing to be gained by standing in the middle of the restaurant, so she let Eric guide her back to her seat.

“Ariel, I’m so sorry,” Regina began.

“It’s not your fault, Regina, you’re not your sister’s keeper. You wouldn’t know she was going to do this more than any of the rest of us would.”

“I know, but I still feel like I ought to keep her on a tighter leash or something.”

“She’s her own person. We can’t help what she does,” Robin said sagely. “One day, she’ll take the hint. I’m not having everyone start inviting her to these things because they’re scared of what will happen if they don’t. She’s got to learn basic manners at some point.”

Regina raised an eyebrow. “You’ve known her longer than any of us except me. Don’t you think she would have learned by now?”

“Life is nothing without hope.”

“You’re far too optimistic for your own good, you know.”

In spite of the interruption leaving a sour taste in her mouth, Ariel had to laugh at the interplay between Robin and Regina. They were truly an opposites-attract pair, and considering the history between Robin and Zelena, Ariel didn’t that that they could ever have made as successful a marriage as they had. It was always good to see them stick together in the face of sister-shaped adversity, and it gave Ariel hope that no matter what might happen, she and Eric could get through everything life threw at them as well.

Eventually, the party began to break up of its own accord, with people wanting to get back to relieve babysitters. Sebastian came out of the kitchen again to say goodbye, and by the time they were leaving the restaurant and making their way towards home, Ariel was happy again. Wandering through the docks, they passed their boat, now finally in working order and ready to set sail.

Ariel stopped as they came up to it, pulling Eric back towards her.

“Let’s go somewhere,” she said. “Right now. Well, not right now, we’d have to stock up on food and fuel. But let’s go somewhere tomorrow. Take her down to… Oh, I don’t know. Somewhere far away and sunny. Just escape from here and all the bitching and social politics.”

“Ok.”

Ariel looked at Eric askance, but he seemed completely in earnest.

“Are you serious? Normally when I propose impromptu boat trips you’re always the voice of reason.”

“Well, I’m not being the voice of reason today. You’ve wanted to get away for months, so I figure, why not? We just need to make a couple of calls to make sure that the office can live without us for a while, and we can go anywhere you like.”

“Oh, Eric!” Ariel pulled him in for a long kiss. “I think that’s the best birthday present you could have given me.”

“Does that mean I can take the jewellery back to the shop?”

Ariel just laughed and rested her head against his shoulder with a sigh of contentment. Let the town think what they would. True freedom was almost within reach.

 


	8. Regina - Mary Margaret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina fights bureaucracy with her niece whilst Mary Margaret makes new friends.

**REGINA**

Naturally, Storybrooke being what it was, all exciting news, gossip and potential scandal travelled fast, and Zelena’s unwanted appearance at Ariel’s party was all anyone in the Storybrooke social media sphere could talk about. 

Regina put her phone down with a sigh, deciding that a break from Twitter and Facebook was probably a good idea for a while. Ariel and Eric had had the right idea with opting out altogether and taking the boat south for a while. Too much drama made life hell, although Regina enjoyed her share of it in small doses.

 Right now, she had to focus her energy on Victoria Belfrey, who seemed determined to remodel the entirety of Storybrooke on a large scale and turn it into some kind of Stepfordian Belfreyville. Regina had gone through pretty much every inch of the town charter and all the local by-laws, but it seemed that Victoria and Fiona were always one step ahead of her, and she was now at the stage of hoping for a miracle to prevent this new development from going ahead.

There was a knock at the front door and Regina peered out of her study window to check for green sports cars in the drive. She had not spoken to Zelena since Ariel’s party; she’d ignored her calls and was refusing to respond to her texts. Considering how much her sister had embarrassed her that evening, she’d thought that Zelena would have taken the hint, but no.

The drive was empty, and since Zelena never walked anywhere if she could take the opportunity to flaunt her latest vehicular acquisition, Regina thought that she was safe to open the door. It seemed ridiculous, hiding from her sister like this, but Regina simply didn’t have the energy for a confrontation on top of everything that was happening at work.

Robyn was standing on the doorstep, her huge hiking backpack slung over her shoulders and her cheeks red and stained with recent tears.

“Can I stay with you and Dad for a while, Aunt Gina? Please?”

“Of course, honey. Whatever’s the matter?”

Robyn dropped her backpack in the hall and accepted Regina’s hug.

“Mom,” she grumbled. “We had another fight. God, she’s so embarrassing.”

“You’re telling me. Come on, I’ll make you some cocoa.”

“It’s the middle of summer, Aunt Gina.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t need cocoa to make everything better. Besides, it’s overcast today.”

Robyn gave a weak laugh and followed Regina through to the kitchen, where all the paperwork for the Belfrey development was spread out on the table. Robyn looked at it with interest.

“That’s not even the half of it,” Regina said. “Most of it is out in my office but I ran out of room and I had to overspill.”

“This is terrible. They can’t build on the old playground site. I know it’s not safe as a play area anymore, but it’s so overgrown with wildflowers and plants; it’s gone back to nature. I’ve seen baby deer there, and rabbits by the dozen.”

“I know. I’m doing my best to block it but I’m running out of options.”

“Tilly and I could help when she comes up next week,” Robyn said. “We’re not doing much else this summer. Apart from college applications,” she added hastily on seeing Regina’s pointed look. “And if you think about it, this would look really good on my application. Organising a petition and protests against a new development, trying to protect a site of natural beauty.”

“All right, I’ll give you that.” Regina cleared the papers to one end of the table and brought the cocoa over. “So, what’s my sister done now?”

“Ugh, all this business with Ariel’s party.” Robyn sighed. “It’s all she’s been able to talk about for the last two days and I just got so sick of it, so I said that maybe if she was nicer to Ariel and her friends in the first place, then she’d actually get invited to these things of her own accord. I mean, no-one’s going to invite you to a party when you spend half your time insulting the other guests. I know how close Ariel and Belle are, and Mom’s never been kind to Belle. Anyway, I said that no-one owes her respect and invitations, and everything just escalated from there until I couldn’t stand to be in the same house as her.” She took a huge gulp of cocoa and nearly choked on it. “Has she always been like this?”

Regina nodded. “I think it comes in part from our childhood. She’d always been an only child until she got a younger stepsister in the form of yours truly. Neither of us were great at sharing. Coming to think of it, we were both pretty bratty whilst her father was still alive and married to my mother. But anyway, she was obsessed with fairness and making sure that she and I were treated exactly the same. I think maybe that’s carried over into adulthood. She just wants whatever I have, for the simple reason that I have it and she doesn’t.”

“Must have made life difficult when you and Dad got together.”

“Yeah.” Regina had never intended to end up marrying the man that her stepsister had previously had a daughter with, but life was strange and apparently her family was even stranger.

Robyn returned her attention to the Belfrey plans with renewed interest. Regina had to admit that she did have a point; maybe it was time to start looking to the local community for help in this affair. Hopefully Belle would be able to help on that score.

X

**MARY MARGARET**

“It’s been nearly a week. Can’t people find anything else to talk about?”

Mary Margaret sighed as she wheeled Neal’s stroller into the Mother and Baby group. It was always the place to come for gossip among the Storybrooke elite, but today the only gossip was Ariel’s party. Ashley Herman was at the centre of it all, which was to be expected. Ashley knew so much about everyone else’s lives that Mary Margaret wondered if she’d installed spy cameras in her neighbours’ houses. It was a shame that she’d become so catty of recent years; hers was a true Cinderella story and it would have been very romantic had Ashley not decided that she needed to retain her place in society by throwing as many of the fellow women under the bus as possible.

Mary Margaret unstrapped Neal from the stroller and carried him over to the gaggle of wives to accept a much-needed cup of tea, and she tried to change the subject to the Belfrey development.

Ashley sniffed emphatically. “I heard that Cameron Gold is trying to stop it because he buried his first wife under the play area and he’s afraid that she’ll be discovered if it’s dug up for new building.”

Mary Margaret immediately regretted changing the subject.

“The first Mrs Gold lives in Los Angeles with her new partner,” she said, as patiently as she could possibly muster. “Bae spends Thanksgiving and spring break with her. She is not buried anywhere.”

Ashley looked rather put out by this correction and steered conversation back to Ariel. Mary Margaret took a sip of tea to fortify herself and looked around the room. There were a couple of new faces since the last time she’d come to the group, two ladies with a chubby little one in a stroller, standing to one side in a corner of the room looking rather lost. No-one was making any effort to include them in the conversation groups going on, and Mary Margaret knew exactly why. A little smile crept over her face. Time to give everyone something else to talk about.

“Who are the new arrivals?” she asked, cutting Ashley off mid-flow.

“Aurora and Mulan Briar, and I believe that the child is called Philip. They were here last week, too.”

“And we’re not talking to them because…”

“I would have thought that was obvious.” Ashley sniffed again, and Mary Margaret almost asked her if she was coming down with a cold.

“Oh, so you’re not talking to them because they’re lesbians? Good to know.” Mary Margaret grinned. “Do excuse me, ladies.”

If there was one thing that Mary Margaret had to her advantage among all the Storybrooke housewives at the Mother and Baby group, one privilege that she could definitely use to the benefit of those deemed to be outsiders, it was money. She was easily worth more than anyone else in the room, and her wealth garnered more respect because it was hers alone and not gained through her husband. In this place, money talked. Ashley might be the head of the group and the gossip Queen Bee, but it was Mary Margaret who set the tone. No-one wanted to lose association with that kind of money.

She went over to Aurora and Mulan.

“Hello, ladies. I don’t think we’ve met before. Mary Margaret Nolan, and this is Neal. Who’s this gorgeous little one?”

The transformation on Aurora’s face was immediate and wonderful, breaking out into a genuine smile as she unstrapped her baby from the stroller and brought him over to meet Mary Margaret.

“This is Philip. I’m Rory, by the way, and this is my wife Mulan.”

“Pleased to meet you both. Have you been in Storybrooke long?”

“No, just a few months. We moved just before Philip was born; we were in Boston before. We didn’t want him to grow up in a big city, you know.”

“Not that Storybrooke seems too different in terms of social niceties,” Mulan muttered. She was holding Rory’s hand tightly, almost defiantly.

“There are bitches wherever you go,” Mary Margaret agreed. Maybe before she’d become a mother and she’d still been young and idealistic about the world, she would never have dreamed of maligning her fellow women in such a way, but the more she saw of the society she inhabited, the more she began to despair.

The next half an hour was taken up with discussing the babies and culminated with Mary Margaret inviting the two new mothers over to her place for coffee later in the week. She gave the gobsmacked Ashley a cheery wave across the room. She was not normally a spiteful person and she did try to see the good in everyone, but there was a limit even to her pleasantries, and Ashley’s expression would remain with her and cause a smile for a long time to come.

“Thanks for rescuing us in there,” Mulan said as they left the group and began to make their way towards their respective homes. “I was beginning to regret going. I mean, it would have been ok if Rory had gone on her own. No-one would have cared then.”

“I wanted you to be there,” Rory said firmly. “I’m not going to pretend that I’m not married to a woman just to be accepted into society. And you’re every inch as much Philip’s mother as I am. I just happened to be the one who gave birth to him.”

Mary Margaret was certain that she was going to end up very good friends with Mulan and Aurora Briar.


End file.
